The Nighthowlers Corruption
by PrinceOfBlades431
Summary: A month after Bellwether's arrest Zootopia is ready for a new mayor meanwhile, the ZPD starts to battle the nighthowler drug left behind by the former mayor but with new recruits on the way and elections around the corner can the ZPD cope with the pressure?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one Prologue**

A cool breeze blew across the late-night streets of Savannah central the wind whipping around the few mammals out enjoying the evening, some out having a fun night out and a quiet drink, but some were looking for something more to add that little extra kick to their evening.

A small group of club going mammals wondered down one of the streets looking for something to make there fun night out a bit more exciting. The small group consisted of two grey wolves both males in their early twenties and three females two of them timber wolves and one being an arctic wolf also in their early twenties.

The group rounded another corner chatting all the way about what the rest of the night might entail.

"So which club do you want to hit up first?" one of the male wolves asked the rest of their small group.

"Not sure, ladies do you know any places?" said the other male wolf looking to their female companions.

The two timber wolf females respond with shrugs.

"I know a place" came a cheery response from the white-furred female. The male who originally asked the question smiled back.

"Well don't hold out on us, what's its name?"

"It's called Envy" the other females snorted while the males just laughed at the obviously silly name.

"Sounds fun is it far?"

"No it's a couple of streets away" they smiled and increased their speed.

"Then that's where we're going" the three females giggled and followed suit.

After walking a couple of streets making small talk all the way they finally reached where they wanted to go there standing at the end of the street in a building separate from the others was the club known as 'Envy' with the big neon letters displayed proudly on top of the door.

The design of the front of the building was so as to catch the eye and it did in a way, two large stone columns stood both sides of the of the doorway in which was just a large set of wooden double doors, another large piece of stone sat atop of the two columns making a large square shape but the only went up about halfway while at the top of the structure just below the roof line was a round window not really suiting it design or purpose now but from a time long ago when it was meant for something else.

That may have made the building look good from the front but form the sides and behind it was a different story some bricks were coming loose, rubbish was falling out of the bins and gang graffiti was painted on the side walls.

Yet despite all of that mammals were still lining up to go inside while two bears dressed in black suits played bouncer at the doorway into the place.

The group got close to the front before stopping to get give it a good once over with very skeptical looks on their faces.

"Well….It's…um…something" said one of the males while the ladies nodded in agreement even the white-furred female was starting to rethink making this suggestion in the first place.

"Come on guys" said the other male raising his arms towards the building with a smile on his muzzle.

"I think it's got character"

"If by character you mean 'looks like a toilet' then I agree" said the less optimistic male only to get a low growl in response.

"At least I'm trying to be optimistic"

"Optimistic…about this dump…really?"

"You never know they might have really good drinks or something" he said trying to keep a positive mood about the place.

"Yea drinks that will make you want to kill yourself after you've drunk them"

"Isn't that the whole point of drinking?" said one of the timber wolf girls a smirk growing on her face.

Now the grey wolf was growling at her for that smart ass comment while the other male was still growling from before with all that going on it sounded like a car sitting at the lights with the engine idling.

"Guys please stop!" the white-furred female stepped in front of the three with her arms out to her sides trying to control the situation.

"I'm sorry I suggested this place but we're here now, so can we please go in and try to have some fun?" she said with pleading eyes.

The three looked at one another then after a few moments started to look rather embarrassed rubbing the backs of their heads and casting their eyes in different directions.

"Sorry" they said in unison, they meet each other gazes again and laughed a little.

"She's right we did come here to have fun" said the she-wolf.

"So let's go have some then" said the white-furred she-wolf with the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

The group went over to the small line waiting to get inside and like everyone else stared there short wait to get inside but while waiting the male who not so eager to go in before spotted a single lonely mammal waiting by the side of the building just outside the view of the other mammals in line but just enough so part of his clothing was being bathed in the setting sunlight.

"I'll be back in a sec guy's" he said the others looking on with curiosity as to where he was going, the wolf turned the corner of the building and got a good look at the mammal.

The partly lit figure was a hyena dressed in a beat up pair of denim jeans a white T-shirt and a black zip-up hoodie, he was stood leaning against the wall of the building arms crossed and eyes closed but when the wolf stopped and stood in front of him his eyes opened revealing a pair of amber orbs glowing in dark of the night.

"What do you want?" he said in a low and slightly threatening tone which made the lupine stiffen.

"I-I was wondering….umm if you had any um ah… n-n-nighthowler" he replied nervously.

In the months since Dawn Bellwethers arrest and imprisonment the plant known as nighthowler had started to become regulated so as another mammal could not do what she had done but despite the best efforts of the ZPD it made its return on the streets of Savannah central the difference this time was the drug had been altered so as the savage component was removed so now mammals could experience their primal sides without the savage side effect.

Needless to say, mammals all over Zootopia started buying and trying it, pretty soon it became priority one for ZPD because it may not have led to mammals going savage but it was highly addictive and prolonged use could as it had been found could lead to the mammal becoming stuck like there primal ancestors locked inside their own mind while their primal side takes control.

So far there were at least six mammals that had been taken to hospitals to see if anything can be done to reverse the effect of the drug, but none had been found and those poor mammals had been stuck that way ever since.

The hyena studied him with his glowing amber eyes and after a second, he pushed off the wall unfolding his arms down to his sides while striding up to the suddenly very surprised wolf.

"What makes you think that I've got any at all?" he growled.

This act had admittedly scared the wolf but when he saw the black cloth wrapped around his left wrist that confirmed what he already thought this mammal belonged to the black fangs that ran the criminal underworld in savannah central and was the only gang that was selling nighthowler.

The hyena caught his eyes looking at his wrist and he smirked.

"Ah so you've heard of us?" the lupine rolled his eyes but still retained a nervous smile.

"O-Of course the whole city his heard of you" the Hyaenidae grinned a big toothy grin at the mention of his gang's reputation being known thought-out the city.

"Right answer so, how much do you want?" he asked leaning in close to the nerve wrecked wolf.

"Umm….ah… a dime bag" came a shaky response.

The hyena pulled back from him while reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small clear plastic bag with a purple powder inside.

"Twenty bucks" he said with a grunt the wolf handed him the money and took the bag.

"T-Thanks" the wolf said with his nerves still plaguing his voice.

"Yea sure now piss off!" hissed the hyena which in turn made the wolf depart all the more swiftly back to the line waiting outside the nightclub. Once for was back in the line with his friend's questions were obviously asked as to what he was up too and he answered with a simple 'nothing' which got him death stares from his fellow lupines.

"Just be careful all right. I'd hate to see my friend turn into a jabbering mess" his male friend said with concern in his voice.

While this was going on the dealer had stepped in the dark shadow of the building and open up a bag hidden from view with even more nighthowler hidden inside, he pulled a few more into his pockets and went back to where he was standing before but just as he got comfortable a car pulled up a to the sidewalk near him with the window rolled down.

"Hey you selling?" said a male voice. Staying where he was the hyena answered.

"Depends" the voice chuckled.

"I'm not a cop if that's what you're asking" he started to walk over while letting out a huff.

"Pff then what are you then?" he asked as he reached the car window only to find a pistol being pointed right at him his eyes grew wide but before he could even say a word a flash engulfed his vision the bullet ripped through his head and he fell with a thud onto the cold hard ground eyes still wide open with shock.

"Your end" said the voice as the window rolled up and began to drive off right past the nightclub and the line of mammals a few turned as the shot rang out to see the hyena lying on the floor blood starting to pool around his body.

A few mammals went over to see but quickly turned back not wanting to see the horrible scene everyone else still waiting to get inside simply stood there in shock of the event that just unfolded a few feet away from them someone was already on the phone to the ZPD while the car drove away with the mammal inside also on the phone.

"It's done" a dark laugh came from the phone.

"_Good work that should stir things up"_

"Stir up all the shit you want as long as I get paid I don't care" another laugh came through the phone.

"_Never thought you could be that cold-hearted"_ the mammal driving huffed and responded.

"He was a dealer he had it coming. If not from me then through some other asshole I'm sure" a huff came through the line.

"_Probably doesn't matter anyway, is everything ready for tomorrow?" _

"Yep just got to drop off the car" one finally dark chuckle rippled through the phone.

"_Excellent I'll have your money for you tomorrow" _the line went dead.

"Can't wait to see how this turns out" A laugh came from the mammal long and hearty.

"Still it's going to be fun to watch" he said as he drove on into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Beep…Beep…Beep…. Beep

The alarm seemed to never end with its ear-piercing noise, the sound bounced off the walls back and forth across the small space with it then reaching the ears of the poor mammal that it tormented.

"Ah…. five more minutes…Please" Came a muffled voice from a bed within paws reach of the alarm on the bedside table.

Beep…. Beep…Beep…. Beep

The alarm seemed to only taunt the mammal more with its continued noise, the mammal hidden under the white bed sheets and pillow that his head had been resting under started to move and with all the effort he could muster he pushed a paw out to the alarm and gave it a slap stopping the device from creating any more of its wicked noise.

The bed groaned a little as its occupant started to get up and sit and the edge of the bed with his feet resting flat on the floor, sitting at the edge of the bed was a grey wolf his black and grey fur sticking out in all directions form his rolling around in the small bed.

Alex Grey was the wolfs name, he had just graduated from the ZPD academy after months of hellish training slowly building up his body finally ready to walk the beat and bring justice to the streets of Zootopia.

Alex was still sat on the edge of the bed yawning and rubbing his eyes when his brain finally started to function quickly deciding a shower was a good idea, getting up and making his bed the wolf made his way out across a small space to his bathroom.

After the graduation of him and his classmates he decided to find himself a place to live and as luck would have it a studio apartment just down the street from the ZPD was available, so he snatched it up money might have been a problem if his parents didn't help with the first few months rent which he very happily accepted.

He quickly took off his boxers and jumped into the shower letting the warm powerful stream of water rush through his fur clearing his head ready to face his first shift as an officer of the ZPD. Once he felt clean and refreshed he hopped out dried himself off and quickly slipped into some underwear then jumping into his brand-new uniform.

Grabbing a fur brush he started to flatten and tidy his fur in the mirror his deep blue eyes going over his uniform a new sense of pride bubbling up from within the lupine. He thought that it couldn't get any better after he had his badge pinned to his chest and when he turned to face the crowd seeing his mother's tears and his father's smile truly it was the best day of his life.

Now that he was clean and well-groomed breakfast was next heading to the kitchen but not before turning on the TV turning to the news Alex continued and started making his morning cup of tea and some toast.

"Our top story today" Alex heard the news presenter from the kitchen "Campaigning starts today for the new mayor of Zootopia the latest is there will be three candidates running for the position Blake Garrison, Amelia Blackwood and William Clark we wish them the best of luck and look forward to hearing what their main policies will be later today"

Alex finished his breakfast grabbed his phone and keys turned off the TV and left for the ZPD, as he walked down the street toward the precinct his thoughts drifting to what his day might be like but they all came up the same simply patrolling the streets of Zootopia which he wouldn't mind after all it was his first day, so he didn't expect anything special.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized he'd nearly walked right into the glass door of the precinct letting out a nervous chuckle he opened the door and went inside.

Once he was inside his eyes roomed the building looking over everything from the clean slick floors to the many office doors then to a reception desk with a chubby cheetah working on a computer and with Alex not being sure where roll call was being held he went over to the officer.

"Excuse me" He said once he'd got the deck. The cheetah turned from the computer to see the wolf greeting him with a smile.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me" The wolf enquired while the cheetah face grows with excitement.

"O…M…Goodness. You must be the new recruit" He said, Alex smiled and nodded.

"Yep that's me. Alex Grey nice to me you officer?" He asked extending a paw.

The cheetah still bright with excitement extended his own paw and they shook. "Benjamin Clawhauser"

"So, how'd you know I was the new recruit?"

"Easy I know all the officer's around here so it's not hard to tell whose new" the feline replied with a warm smile.

"Anyway ready for your first day?"

"Oh….um" Alex rubbed the back of his neck feeling a slight tingle of nerves. "Yea I think so"

Ben let out a little giggle "Don't worry you'll be fine besides I think the chief is going to partner you with someone so you won't be on your own"

A sigh of relief left the wolf along with a happy chuckle "That's good at least I won't have to worry about doing all the paperwork on my own"

Ben's smile seemed to grow a little more "I can tell you're going to fit in fine here"

Alex then realized that roll call was minutes away and he needed to get going or be late on his first day "I would love to keep chatting with you Ben but I should get to roll call so…..which way?"

The cheetah must have realized as well answering quickly "Ball pen's just down there to the left. Good luck on your first day Alex" He said with another warm smile.

"Thanks Ben I will. See you later" Alex said as he left the cheetah and headed off down the hall and toward the ball pen. Just as he got to the door and put a paw on the handle he took one big breath in and out to steady himself.

"Well, here we go" He then push the door open and entered the room.

Once inside the ball pen he found it filled with officers taking up most of the seats in the room, the air was buzzing with conversation between the various mammals, small talk to fill the time before there shift started, Alex's eyes fell upon an open seat at the front of the room so he preceded down to the front and sat down.

Once he was seated his mind went over what Clawhauser had told him 'The chief is going to partner you up with someone' probably another wolf Alex thought.

"Alright. Shut it!" Came a booming voice from the front. Chief Bogo had silenced the room, the cape buffalo had managed to slip into the room unnoticed, positioned himself front and center ready to hand out assignments to the once chatty bunch of officers.

"I've got two items on the docket. First, there is a new recruit I should introduce… but I'm not going to cause I don't care" the other officers sniggered while Alex grinned a nervous grin.

"Now number two. Lately, we've managed to take a dozen Nighthowler dealers into custody but none of them are giving up their suppliers" the chief let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Worse still The Black Fangs are getting smarter about how they conduct there dealings so I'm setting up a task force to root out the mammals supplying the gang and hopefully catch the head of the gang as well" the room was dead quiet as the cape buffalo spoke the seriousness of the situation seemed to be emphasized just by lack of words plus the chief's face was one of driven rage.

"I want these mammals off the streets ASAP because with the elections for the new mayor being right around the corner we're going to have our paws full" the chief then picked up his clipboard while his calm demeanor returned, Alex was surprised by how fast the buffalo could go from one extreme emotion to a calm state so fast and not bat an eye.

"Assignments" Bogo started giving out the officer's duty's, Alex felt his tail instinctively start to wag from his sheer excitement so he focused his attention on keeping it still so he didn't embarrass himself but in doing so he missed which officers got which assignments.

Alex was now the only one left in the room with the chief when he heard his commanding voice.

"Officer Grey" the lupin swallowed a nervous lump in his throat.

"Yes…. Sir" he answered a little more meekly then he would have liked.

"Normally I'd partner you with someone and have you on patrol" the chief came around his deck standing next to it as he continued.

"But right now, we are stretched a bit thin so you'll be helping out one of our veteran officers with a homicide" the wolf felt his heart pound against his ribs while his eyes widened a little.

"Now I'd understand if you don't think you can do this I am asking a lot out of you" before Bogo could say anymore Alex answered as if on autopilot.

"No, sir I-I can do this" Bogo raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You don't seem sure" Alex straightened his back while his eyes meet the hardened pupils of the chief.

"I can do it sir" he answered with gusto.

Bogo's eyes went over the lupine, it's true he really didn't have the mammal power to spare for this new case but he had to admit he was very apprehensive about assigning a rookie to a fresh homicide, the fact that he was putting him with one of his best officers did ease his nerves a little but the cape buffalo still had to make a decision that he really didn't want to make.

"Alright if you think you can handle it" Alex felt a warm sense of pride well up inside him with a smile creeping its way onto his face.

"But!" Bogo said pointing a finger at the startled wolf "if you screw up I'll have you on parking duty for a year understand?" Alex stood up quickly saluting the chief fear driving his actions more than anything.

"Understood sir"

"Good, the crime scene is outside a club in Savannah central called Envy, the officer you'll be working with is waiting for you outside. Dismissed!" the wolf made his way to the door and left the room leaving Bogo behind.

The chief let out a long sigh taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"That better not come back to bite me in the tail" he muttered picking up his clipboard and heading for his office.

**_Outside the ZPD_**

Alex walked out of the glass doors of precinct one the warm morning sun dancing across his fur, a homicide on his first day as a rookie 'is that even allowed' the thought did cross his mind as he came down the stone steps even if it was true he didn't care one bit he wanted to be a cop and he'd not screw this up Bogo had made that very clear.

A chill rose up his spine at the thought of parking duty for a whole year.

A ZPD cruiser pulled up in front of the lupine, the window rolled down to reveal a red fox in a pair of aviators his ZPD blues and a smirk.

"Hey sorry I'm a bit late. Were you waiting long?"

"No. Just waiting for my partner to show" the foxes smirk grow a little.

"That would be me, Officer Nick Wilde" he answered pushing his shades down his snot a little showing off a pair of emerald green eyes "Hop in"

Alex hopped into the passenger seat buckled himself in and they set off for Savannah central.

As they drove Alex left the window down enjoying the wind running through his fur the temptation to let his tongue hang out was growing ever so slowly he'd used to do it as a kid, he'd tried and failed to grow out of the silly ritual just accepting it as part of who he was even if it was stupid.

"Enjoying yourself their rookie?" Alex turned to face Nick his smirk still gracing his muzzle.

"What?"

"I know what your thinking. Go ahead I won't judge" Alex really was tempted to do it.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Nick chuckled taking off his aviators as they pulled up to a stop light.

"You're easy to read wolfly, you want to stick your head out and let your tongue dangle in the wind right?" Alex met Nicks eyes suddenly he felt like he couldn't lie so he nodded rather reluctantly.

"How did you know?"

"Your muzzle was twitching and I'm pretty certain your tongue was poking out a little" the wolf felt a wave of heat creep it's way up his neck.

He sighed "Great my first day and I'm already making a fool of myself"

"Don't say that there's still a whole day to go yet" the lupine groaned while Nick chuckled.

"What's your name rookie?"

"Alex Grey" Nick quickly shook the wolfs paw.

"Nice to make your acquaintance" The light turned green and they set off again making their way through the early morning sun, traffic seemed to flow like a river making the trip sooth and quick.

**_Savannah Central outside club Envy_**

The two canines made it to the crime scene the area still fairly quiet due to it being early morning, crime scene tape block the alleyway where a body was laying with a couple of officers stood at the tape keeping the few members of the public who wanted to see what was going on with the classic 'move along please there's nothing to see' while a third mammal was inside the tape kneeling over the body.

Nick and Alex exited their cruiser making their way over the scene became much clearer, a pool of bright red blood rested underneath a motionless body, seeing the scene made the wolfs whole being shiver from the tip of his tail to the points of his ears with his feet slowing down causing him to fall behind Nick, the fox turned to see the wolfs eyes fixed on the horrible scene ahead.

"Hey Grey" Alex pulled his vision away and focus on Nick.

"You okay?" he glanced again at the scene and shook his head. Nick knew already that this might happen he'd seen a few rookies before trying to hold their nerve in front of their first body, but it never was easy things like this were never easy, but it was part of the job and it had to be done.

"Yea the first is never easy"

"Does it ever get any easier?" Alex asked. Nick looked away.

"When I find out I'll let you know" Nick knew that wouldn't help ease the wolf but neither could he lie about it, Nick had worked a few homicides since he started at the ZPD each one was bad or worse than the last seeing the pain death could cause to the loved ones left behind, that's what he hated most not the act of killing the poor mammals that are left behind to grieve for there fallen loved one.

Nick turned back to Alex.

"Come on newbie let's get to work" Nick started walking over leaving the wolf, Alex was truth be told a bit apprehensive about seeing his first homicide victim, but this was partly why he wanted to be a cop to stop crimes like this from happening.

Straightening his back he breathed in deep catching the smell of dried blood which made him hack for a moment but he pushed all his nerves and worries aside and started over to his first homicide.

The canines moved under the tape and stepped until they were about a foot away from the body and blood pool its smell overpowering the officer's sense of smell to the point where they almost have to cover their nose's.

"Morning Honey" Nick said the mammal kneeling over the body looked up at the canine officers revealing a honey badger wearing a white shirt black blazer and black trousers.

"Morning Nick. Morning Ju…." Her gaze lands on the wolf next to Nick clearly expecting someone else.

"Where's your partner Nick?" she asks. Nick nods towards the lupine.

"Right here"

"I'm pretty sure Judy is a rabbit last I checked" Nick smirks.

"Well look at you junior detective"

"Har har you should do stand-up"

"Tired that no one liked my jokes"

"Did you tell them the one about the three-humped camel?" Nick's chest puffs out a little.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Honey shakes her head.

"Never mind I have my answer, so where is officer Hopps?"

"She had to go back home her mother is giving birth to a new litter and she wanted to see her new siblings"

"Fair enough so who's this?" she asks nodding toward Alex.

"Oh, where are my manners? Honey this is officer Alex Grey. Alex this is Honey chief medical examiner at the ZPD" Alex smiled.

"Nice to meet you Honey" she returned his smile with one of her own.

"Nice to meet you too Alex" they would have shaken paws if honey wasn't wearing white gloves.

"So, what have we got?" Nick asked. Honey sighed and looked down at the poor broken mammal on the floor.

"Male hyena mid-twenties single GSW to the head" Honey checked his body for anything to tell them what happened.

She checked his front pockets and found a couple of hundred dollars in cash.

"Robbery gone wrong maybe?" Alex commented while Nick shook his head.

"If it was why not take the money after he killed him" just then Honey pulled out a bag from the hyenas back pocket its contents a purple powder.

"Nighthowler" Nick growled.

"So, he's a dealer oh poor baby where did it go wrong?" Honey said while stroking a part of the hyena's fur that didn't have dried blood covering it. Her touch was gentle and caring while her eyes shone with kindness.

"Hey, check this out" Nick had walked a couple of feet into the ally and was kneeling over a small bag Alex quickly made his way over.

"What is it?" Nick pulled out several smaller clear plastic bags with the same purple powder.

"I figured if he was a dealer he must have more with him than what we found on his body"

"You think this is about drugs?" Alex asked.

"Maybe… why don't you go and see if there are any witnesses while I check the rest of the scene"

"Sure Nick"

The wolf made his way over to the officers at the tape and asked if there were any witnesses when they arrived, the officer pointed to a group of five wolves sitting on the steps of the club, all of them looked shaken by the events of the night, Alex went over stopping at the bottom step in front of the lupines.

"Hello, I'm officer Alex Grey and I'm going to need to ask you some questions about last night if that's okay?" he said taking out a notebook from his breast pocket, they looked between one another before the female artic wolf started speaking her voice came out weak and quiet.

"W-w-we didn't see much officer" her gaze rested on the floor with her paws resting on her lap while her tail was wrapped around her stomach Alex felt his heart drop.

He bent down onto one knee so he was level with the group.

"Hey, it's okay" he said reassuringly "If you didn't see anything that's fine"

He looked to the other wolves they all seemed like there friend still trying to process what they had seen, however, one of the males had very twitchy paws and kept his gaze away from Alex.

"It's just a lot to take in you know?" one of the females said.

"Yea I understand but if you guys remember anything it would help immensely" she looked at the artic wolf next to her then back to Alex.

"If where honest us four" she said gesturing to every wolf apart of her white-furred friend "Didn't see anything but Luna did"

Luna looked up at her friend in disbelief then her and Alex's eyes meet her eyes were like nothing he'd ever seen before, they were a light smoky grey that matched her bright white fur perfectly, every time she blinked they seemed to sparkle drawing Alex's eyes deeper into hers.

"We knew the ZPD would show up to take her statement and we didn't want to leave her alone" Alex saw a smile creep its way onto Luna's face.

"Okay so, what do you remember?" Alex flipped his notebook open ready the write.

"I remember us in the line the go inside, we had just gotten to the front when I heard a bang and when I turned to look I-I saw…. that hyena fell to the ground" her voice grows quiet for a moment.

"Did you see the shooter?" Alex asked Luna shook her head.

"No, but I did see a car drive by after the I heard the shoot"

"Can you describe it?" she thinks for a moment.

"I think so, it was pretty dark. The car was small I think maybe a two-door and….it…was black"

"Any distinguishing features?"

"None that I can remember" Alex cursed under his breath. He couldn't and wouldn't blame her it was dark, the shooter must have been driving fairly quick after he'd shot and killed a mammal.

However, the lupine did not expect what came next.

"I did see the last three letters of his license plate" Alex smiled a big smile.

"Perfect, what were they?"

Luna told Alex the part of the plate she saw and after the wolf was done writing he stood up and extended a paw to she-wolf and they shook.

"Thank you for your help, if you remember anything else please don't hesitate to call" her eyes seemed to sparkle as she shook the officer's paw.

"I will officer, thank you" Alex turned and left the wolves heading back over to meet Nick and inform him of what he'd found.

As he walked away Luna's eyes lingered on him, she watched his tail sway back and forth as he went while her mind thought about how kind and patient he was with her, Luna's friends took notice of her staring at the lupines back specifically his grey and white shiny tail.

"Wow you only just meet and you're already ogling him" Luna had been caught staring and she knew it, she quickly shifted her gaze to her paws on her lap as a slight red blush made its way onto her cheeks.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she lied. Her friend just laughed.

"Hey, I'm not judging he was pretty handsome not my type though"

"Well seeing as your type is any mammal with a dick I'll consider him lucky" the jab earned her a glare from her friend, after a moment though she laughed.

"They do say variety is the spice of life" both females laughed but Luna was glad to get away from the subject of the officer because she really did think he was good looking and if she had shared this with her friends they would tease her relentlessly about it.

Meanwhile, Alex had made his way back to the crime scene where Nick had just left under the tape.

"Hey, learn anything Grey?" the fox asked.

"Not a lot but she did get a partial plate" he said but the fox was looking past him to the group of wolves Alex had just been with.

"Did you hear me Nick?" Nick returned his attention to the wolf.

"Oh…yea…. sorry, why don't you call in the plate I'll be back in a sec" Alex watched Nick head over to the group before he made his way back to the cruiser.

Alex jumped inside and grabbed the radio.

"Officer Grey to dispatch" he waited a moment before a familiar voice answered.

"_Officer Clawhauser here. How's your first day going Alex?"_

"Good considering the circumstances"

"_Oh, yea you caught that murder in Savannah central"_

"Yep. Speaking of the case could you run a partial plate for me?"

"_Sure, what's the plate?"_ Alex read the plate to him and added on the description of the car even though he didn't think it was worth a dam.

"_Alright, we'll put out a BOLO as well see if we can't find the car. I'll let you know if we hear anything"_

"Thanks, Clawhauser" just as Alex finished Nick got back into the cruiser.

"So, what were you doing Nick?"

"When you were asking those wolfs questions did you notice one of them acting odd?" Nick questions.

"Yes… but I just thought he was still in shock from seeing the hyena" Nick then pulls from his pocket a small see-through bag with a purple powder inside.

"Nighthowler"

"Yep. That's why he was nerves" Nick placed the bag inside an evidence bag. "Not enough to arrest him so, I let him off with a warning"

Alex looked a little defeated his tail hanging loose and eyes falling on his lap. Truth be told he didn't even give the other wolves a second look his mind now having the image of Luna's face lingering in the corners of his brain.

"Hey, come on" Nick gave him a light punch to the shoulder "It's nothing and besides they don't teach you to read mammal-like I do at the academy"

That made the wolf feel better.

"Thanks, Nick hey maybe you can teach me how to read mammals like that" Nick chuckled.

"In your dreams rookie….so, did you call in the plate?" Alex nodded and told Nick about his talk with Clawhauser.

"Good and while you were talking to those wolves I got word that CSU is on the way" the fox started the cruiser and pulled on his seatbelt.

"Alright, what next?" Alex asked.

"Well we don't have any leads or even know the victim's name" Nick thought for a moment then he smiled.

"How about breakfast?" the wolf stared in disbelief Nick had caught him so off guard he had no idea what to say or do. The wolf went over what Nick had said and it did make sense they had no leads for which to follow so why not breakfast.

"Sure" Alex replied.

"Great! I hope you like blueberry muffins" both canines' stomachs growled as they set off.

_**Meanwhile in an apartment a few blocks away from the crime scene.**_

Two black fangs gang members were packing a few bags of Nighthowler into two black briefcases.

"Who is this stuff even going too?" one of them questioned.

"Don't know. Don't care" the other replied continuing to pack the case.

"This is the biggest deal we've done so far how can you not care?"

"The only things I care about are money and women. This is just a means to an end" a phone starting ringing interrupting the two so one of them stepped away to answer.

"Yea" he answered.

"_Is the Nighthowler ready?" _

"Yea just packing the last of it now"

"_Good the boss wants this deal to go down smoothly" _

"Don't worry it will"

"_It better" _the voice growled "_I'll send you the address and time of the meet tonight. Don't be late!" _

The line went dead and after a moment a message appeared on the phone with the time and place of the meet.

"The meet is set, we're meeting at an abandoned warehouse on the border with the rainforest district and savannah central"

His buddy nodded as they finished loading the cases with the deadly Nighthowler drug.

**To be continued.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The midday sun was blazing high in the sky above Savannah central, Alex and Nick's morning had been very uneventful with the lack of evidence from the crime scene earlier all the canines could do was patrol around the district until either CSU came back with something or when the autopsy was complete.

The morning had gone by rather quickly after the officers left the crime scene to get breakfast even though Alex had already eaten this morning he would have felt rude if he didn't indulge the red fox besides the thought of having a blueberry muffin did sound good and given the way Nick was describing them you would have thought they were made by the paws of an angel.

They had to go back to the outskirts of downtown where a small coffee shop sold these amazing pastries, Alex quickly found out that the fox was not exaggerating the outer layer of the muffin was crusty with a slight hardness to it where as the inside was light and fluffy but the part that made these muffins taste amazing was the blueberry's themselves when Alex bit down on one it exploded with sweetness which engulfed the wolfs taste buds while his eyes widened at the sudden burst of flavour.

He and Nick were back in the car when he took that first bite and once he'd swallowed it he let out a very satisfying breath.

"What do ya think? Good huh?" Nick asked while he took a bite out of his own muffin.

"It's great. I've never had anything like it" He replied before he took another bite.

Nick raised a brow.

"Really?" Alex swallowed and nodded.

"Yea never really had a taste for pastries but after this I do now" A smirk grow on Nick's face.

"Glad I could help expand your mind" Nick went back to the last of his muffin just as a voice came through the cruisers radio.

"Dispatch to car 11 King come in Nick" Came Clawhauser's voice Nick quickly ate the last of his muffin and answered.

"Car 11 King what's up spots?"

"The medical examiner is requesting your presence in connection with the club shooting"

"We're on the way, thanks buddy" Nick started up the car and they pair headed back to the ZPD.

**ZPD morgue**

The morgue was in the basement of the ZPD and was a large open room covered in stainless steel with a couple of tables used for the autopsies running through the centre of the room and across one of the walls was all the draws used to house all the dead that had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting.

On one of the tables lay the body of the hyena from the crime scene a white sheet was coving his form only leaving his neck and head exposed the blood that once stained his fur was now gone leaving the bullet hole in his head very visible despite that his eye lids were shut making him look peaceful.

Alex looked over the dead canine taking in how dignified he looked even in death clearly someone had taken very good care of him.

"Honey I'm home!" Nick said outload. For a second Alex wondered who he was speaking too until Honey walked out of an office door on the far side of the room wearing green medical scrubs.

"How many times have I told you to stop saying that when you walk in here?" She asks rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Counting this time, I'd say…. about…. five No wait!... Six" Honey let out a sigh.

"Five times more than need be"

"Oh, lighten up Honey, I only did it for the newbie I thought he might laugh" Alex raised a paw.

"For the record I did find it a little funny" Honey narrowed her eyes at the lupine making him swallow a nervous lump in his throat.

"I think she likes you" Nick remarked making Honey narrow her eyes at the fox too.

"Alright I'm sorry Honey I won't do it again cross my heart" The tod crossed his heart with a finger and smiled while Honey just sighed.

"So, Spots said you had something for us" Honey went over to a nearby table with a file on it and a small clear evidence bag.

"A couple of things actually, First an ID for our victim" She gave Nick the file and while he started to paw through it she continued.

"Billy Green, age twenty-two, street name 'Billy the kid'"

"You're kidding?" Alex asked, Honey shook her head.

"Nope it's in his file" Alex scanned through the file over Nick's shoulder to find that name listed under known aliases and there it was.

"Criminals aren't very imaginative, are they?" Alex asked out loud, Honey nodded while Nick was still nose deep in the file.

"Poor kid says his parents died when he was young, bounced from foster home to foster home, age eighteen he was caught selling ketamine" Nick took a breath flipped the page and continued.

"Did two years in prison once released he fell in with The black fangs and started selling drugs for them, after that he only got brought in a couple more times for possession but never charged"

"Second thing obviously the cause of death was the bullet wound to the noggin"

Honey went back over to the small table picked up the small bag which Alex could see had a bullet inside, she gave the bag to the lupine and while he examined it Honey spoke.

"CSU found it a little deeper into the ally. It's a 9mm we already tested it and the striations don't match anything in our data base" Nick finished reading the file placing it back down on the table.

"Well the file says he's got an address on the outskirts of Savannah Central so that's where we start" Alex gave the bullet back to Honey.

"We better get going then" The lupine made his way out the door.

"Eager isn't he?" Honey asked, Nick just chuckled.

"That he is, anyway thanks for the help Honey" She wave a paw at him.

"Don't mention it, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't" Nick made his way out and started to catch up to the lupine and head to the hyena's address.

**Billy Green's apartment building Savannah Central**

The two officers jumped into their car and started to make there way over to the victim's home with both the canines just enjoying the midday sun as Nick drove, about halfway through the car ride Nick started to make light conversation with him asking about Alex's age which was twenty two, where he lived if he had a significant other and what his family was like the wolf was more than happy to answer.

"I just got my own place Downtown it's kind of small, but I don't mind regarding a significant other… that would be a flat no…. I'm terrible at flirting" The fox just laughed.

"Just another thing I'm going to have to teach you my young apprentice" Alex let out a huff of air obviously not being a fan of Nick teasing him.

"What about your family?

"Just me and my parents"

"No brothers or sisters"

"Sadly, no I'm an only child"

"So, it's just you and parents?" Nick asked, Alex shook his head.

"No, the rest of my family lives in England" Nick raised a brow.

"You were born in England?"

"My parents are from England they moved over here about a year before I was born"

"Oh, so you've got family just not here" Alex nodded.

"Yeah pretty much" The two went quiet for a minute before Nick asked one last question.

"How come you don't have an English accent?" Alex thought about it for a moment.

"I really don't know guess I never really picked it up"

Just as Nick was about to suggest his own unique theory they pulled up to address from the file, the address lead to a rather beat up apartment block with gang tags on the walls and the door into the building having its glass smashed and covered in cardboard.

The pair hopped out standing side by side at the front of the building.

"Well this place seems to have its own unique….um…. charm"

"Yeah, I particularly like that tag that's says death to…... well I'm not comfortable saying that last word" Nick saw what Alex was talking about his eyes widening at the rude use of language, he quickly turning his gaze away and started for the door.

"Let's head inside before our eyes are offended by more crude writing"

The inside of the building was no better than the outside more tags covered the walls while doors to apartments had holes with bad patch jobs the smell of damp lingered through the hallway as the two predators finally got to the apartment they wanted.

The door was one of the only still intact but still didn't have a number and had sprayed in big black across the it KEEP OUT!

"Charming. I wonder if he ever threw a house party?" Nick remarked. Alex shook his head and knocked on the door.

"ZPD anyone home!?" He called and waited for a potential response. Nick on the other paw wasn't one to wait so he tried the door handle out of curiosity and to their surprise it swung straight open.

"I don't know if we should be happy or nervous" The fox just shrugged and made his way inside with Alex following behind.

The apartment was just two rooms, the kitchen living room and bedroom all being in the same space with the bathroom being in a small area at the back of the apartment, in the one big area was a futon couch facing a flat screen TV mounted on the wall off to the side of the room was a wardrobe build into the wall the door was missing and clothes were piling up with a couple of t-shirts hanging on hangers.

To the other part of the of space was a plastic table, horrible folding chairs and half eaten Chinese food still in their containers on the table top going by the smell of it the food had been sat there for more than a day making the whole place smell of the rotting shrimp and egg fried rice.

"You'd think a drug dealer would have a better place then this" Nick said as he made his way deeper inside.

"Maybe business has been slow lately?" Alex suggested. Nick poked his head inside the fridge that rested in the small kitchen part of the room it only being filled with milk, beer and nothing else.

"Doubt it. With the way nighthowler has been selling and the amount he had in that bag at the crime scene I'd say he was about to make a big sell to someone" Alex couldn't disagree with that, but one thing did bother him.

"So, if he was so good at selling and was about to make that big score why live like this?" The wolf went over to the table where the food lay giving it a quick sniff and wishing he didn't as the horrible rotting smell invaded his nostrils making recoil back a step.

"No clue, maybe something here can help" Nick started to sweep the far side of the apartment so Alex started from the door and moved inward.

The two officers moved through the room going over everything with a sharp eye but finding nothing not even his phone or wallet which they assumed would at least be in his place, after ten minutes of searching they meet in the centre of the room.

"Anything?" Nick asked.

"Nothing" Alex replied.

"I refuse to believe that there's nothing here…. let's search again" As Nick went back to searching and Alex did the same he headed over to the wardrobe which he started to regret as the smell of unwashed clothes invaded his nose, he cringed at the smell but despite it the lupine checked over the small space and found nothing.

The pile of clothes was right by his hind paw and to his mind there was nowhere else to look, he gave to pile a kick and heard something move that defiantly wasn't dirty laundry.

"No way" He muttered as the unwashed mountain fell to revile three clear plastic bags filled with purple powder.

"Hey look what I found" He called over to Nick, the fox was over a moment later with smirk on his muzzle.

"Nice one Grey. Let's bag this and head back" Alex nodded and started to bag up the deadly drug, when he lifted up the last bag a phone was resting on the floor where the drugs had been he place that in an evidence bag too.

"What kind of drug dealer hides there stash and phone under his dirty laundry?" Nick shrugged.

"No idea. You'd have to ask our dead dealer"

"I don't think I'll get an answer"

"Yea he didn't seem very cooperative did he?" Alex wanted to groan at the terrible quip but found himself smiling instead.

"Back to the station then Nick?"

"Yep let's go rookie" With evidence bags in paw the two officers left the apartment jumped back into their car and headed back to the ZPD.

**Back at the ZPD**

It was mid-afternoon by the time Nick and Alex had logged the evidence while leaving the phone with tech to see if they could get anything from it, the wolf had also discovered how much his fox partner disliked paperwork he'd complained the whole time until they were done.

"That. Was. Horrible" He groaned as they walked down the corridor towards the break room.

"Speak for yourself. I had to listen to you complain the whole time" The fox just scoffed.

"I guarantee there's no one at the ZPD who likes doing paperwork" Alex chuckled lightly.

"Can't argue with you there"

The pair came to the door of the break room and headed inside.

The room was stocked with a coffee machine on a side in one corner next to a water cooler while a couch big enough for the largest of the ZPD officers to sit or have a quick power nap was on the opposite side of the room, best part of the room came from the TV hanging on the wall at the far end of the room courtesy of Nick.

Through his con artist days the tod had saved up plenty of money so buying a new TV for the break room to make everyone's breaks just a little bit better was no big deal in his own words he called it 'paying back a small amount of my dep't to society' and that dep't was well received by all the officers including Judy even if she didn't want to admit it calling it a distraction even when Nick caught her one evening slacking on paperwork to watch a quick episode of 'Private Eyes'.

Nick went straight for the machine flicking it on and pulling out two cups from the cupboard under where the machine sat.

"Do you drink coffee Grey?"

"Never tried it. Is it good?"

Nick didn't answer for a moment while he made up two cups of the black liquid grabbing milk from a small fridge that sat next to the cooler.

"The stuff we've got here isn't great but it'll get you through the day" He said giving Alex one of the steaming hot mugs.

After giving it a quick blow to cool it down the wolf sipped a little of the drink and swallowed its bitter taste caught him off guard and caused him to cough.

"Told you it's not great"

After a small coughing fit the wolf answered to smirking tod.

"Is it….. Supposed to be…. That bitter?" Alex asked in-between lingering coughs.

"Pretty much. Do you like it?"

"Definitely not something I'd drink every day, maybe if I needed a pick-me-up" He answered taking another sip of the bitter drink.

Nick just sipped from his own steaming mug, he went over to the couch grabbing the remote along the way and sat down.

"Let see what's happening in Zootopia shall we?"

Nick turned the TV on switching over to the news and with a satisfying sigh leaned his back into the welcoming fabric, Alex preferred to lean his back against the wall with both canines sipping down there coffee.

"Good afternoon this is ZNN, I'm Fabienne Growley" The news was being presented be a female snow leopard wearing a purple blazer with a white shirt underneath.

"Zootopia is all a buzz with the news of three candidates for the vacant potion of mayor of the city, there campaigns all started this morning with speeches in their own headquarters highlighting on what they hope to do once they become mayor"

As the leopard moved a few papers in front of her around a small picture appeared next to her, the mammal in the picture was something Alex had never seen before, he had a long snout leading up to a pair of small horns at the centre of his head with a pair of large flexible ears resting at the top of his head, his fur colour was a reddish brown and cut short giving off a professional look combined with the suit he was wearing and a determined look in his light brown eyes you had one odd looking candidate at least to the lupines mind.

"This is our first candidate Blake Garrison an Okapi a very rare spices of mammal coming from the rainforest district, he graduated top of his class in politics at Zootopia University and has in recent years been the spearhead for rehoming homeless mammals and voicing major reforms of our orphanage system, but the most radical and highly discussed topic so far has to be his proposed rebuilding of the infamous Cliffside asylum turning the aging building into a brand new up to date health care facility"

Nick raised an eyebrow he was surprised to hear that someone wanted to give that old tried building a new lease of life considering what had been going on there during the Nighthowler case.

"Some mammals mainly predators have said that keeping the building will only remind them of what happened to the poor predators that became pawns in Bellwethers plot, in response Mr Garrison said"

"_We can't change the past but we can move forward to make the world a better place"_

The picture faded away to then be replaced with a red panda wearing a white summer dress with flowers dotted all over, she looked young that much Alex could tell but her eyes seemed to shine with a sharp wit this mammal was one of beautiful youth mixed with a brilliant mind.

"Our next candidate is Amelia Blackwood, she is the daughter of Vincent Blackwood the owner of Zootopia exports the largest shipping company in the city, the family itself has never been involved in politics so it came as a surprise to many mammals but in a statement, she said"

"_I know it may strange for me to be running for mayor but I think with my education and experience in business I can bring great change to Zootopia and its mammals"_

"That sentiment is shared by quite a few mammals who have already pledged their support, as for what she wants to change for now it's all about infrastructure and improving business's around the city, old abandoned buildings have become her target with the hope of clearing them to make way for new business's which in turn creates new jobs for the unemployed portion of the population"

The picture faded away again to be replaced with a red deer stag his fur was about mid length and well combed through, he was wearing a white dress shirt with the top button undone and the tie hanging loosely around his neck.

"Our final candidate is William Clark, born and raised in the meadowlands this mammal went to school and achieved high grades from the start, he eventually decided to take up studies in law and politics with him being offered place at Oxford University he has been away from Zootopia for a few years now and is an unknown in the world of politics with no one knowing what he is really capable of doing, but he put some of that worry to rest when he addressed the public"

"_I know that there are concerns about how new I am to politics, but I assure you that a fresh prospective is just what we need to build us a stronger Zootopia" _

"And the way Mr. Clark wants to go about building a stronger city is to start with the emergency and public service's clearly the stag wants the mammals of the city to feel safe and have access to the best services they can possibly get"

The final picture faded away with the camera turning back and centring on the snow leopard newscaster.

"So, the race has begun for our next mayor, we at ZNN wish all the candidate's the best of luck with their campaigns, we will continue to cover the run up to the vote in just over a mouths time but for now that's all from us goodbye"

Nick switched the TV off and finished his coffee letting out a satisfying breath while Alex took one last gulp finishing his, grabbing Nicks cup the lupine went over to the sink quickly washing them and leaving on the side to dry, once done he leaned against the countertop facing the fox who was still leaning back into the couch.

"So, what do you think of those candidates?" Alex asked Nick shrugged.

"Not sure I've never really trusted politicians, too much talk not enough action"

"What about Bellwether?" He regretted asking the moment the words left his muzzle.

To Nick's credit he didn't show much emotion about the subject that terrible chapter in the city's life was over and everyone had moved onto better things with the ewe in prison and her plot foiled, but he had to admit the wolf did have a small point she did prioritise action over words even if those actions were targeting predators and making them go savage.

Nick did however take solace from that if the mad ewe didn't go through with her insane plan he would have never meet Judy the light of his life, the one who believed in him and guided him back down the straight and narrow away from his con-artist ways, the one he now loved with all his heart.

The fox laughed surprising the lupine he expected him to be offended by his remark, the laughter died down leaving a smile on Nick's muzzle.

"Maybe not that much action" He said hopping off the couch and readjusting his uniform.

Alex just stood there not sure of what to say.

"What's the matter Grey? Cat got your tongue?" The wolf shook his head and found his voice.

"Sorry for a minute there I thought I said something stupid" He replied rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine, besides if Bellwether didn't do what she did I wouldn't have become an officer or met carrots"

"How did you two meet?" The wolf asked curiously.

"It's a long story, come on I'll tell you it while we're on patrol" Nick walked towards the door with Alex close behind.

**To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The rest of the day went by pretty fast for the two officers no new leads had surfaced and with them still waiting for tech to crack there dead dealers phone all they could do was stick to patrol, the wolf and fox got on well making casual conversation about everything and nothing, Nick had told Alex the story of how he and Judy met from their first meeting in Jumbeaux's Café to their escape from a savage jaguar all the way up to finally taking down Bellwether.

Alex mostly just listened with wide eyes and perked up ears taking in every detail at one stage he thought the fox was exaggerating but the way he spoke with such passion and honest eyes but he could tell that every word was sincere and by the time he was done telling the story he had to admit he admired the fox for everything he and officer Hopps went through to get to where they are today.

The end of their shift came with Nick driving them back to the ZPD to drop the cruiser off and quickly clock out as they walked out of the front doors Nick turned the wolf.

"So, what did you think of your first day?"

"It was great" He answered with a grin on his face.

"Definitely could have been worse"

"Really?" The wolf raised a brow. "How so?"

"Parking duty" He simply answered. Alex grimaced at the words Nick had mentioned the job earlier in the day and from what he gathered it was not the most pleasant job but in fact a crime against mammal kind.

"I guess I got lucky"

"Don't worry I'm sure Bogo will put you on it eventually" Alex felt a cold shiver run up his spine.

"Anyway I'm heading home it's not very often I have the place to myself and I intended to enjoy it"

"Alright, thanks for the great first day Nick" The fox smiled while shoving his paws in his pockets.

"No problem I'll see you tomorrow rookie" Nick turned and started off back home leaving the lupine behind.

Alex started to make his way home as well, the cool pre-evening air whipped through his fur while his mind went over the events of the day.

Honestly, it was one of the best days of his life he loved every second of it minus the dead drug dealer of course, Nick had definitely made the day even better telling the odd joke here and there to lighten the mood and sharing his knowledge with the young officer making him feel a lot more confident.

Sure eventually he would be partnered with somebody else or who knows maybe be on his own but he didn't care because right now this job was the greatest thing in the world and nothing was going to change that.

The wolf was still wrapped in his thoughts when he turned to the corner close to his building and bumped straight into another mammal sending them both backward onto their rumps with the mammal that Alex bumped into dropping a cupule of bags falling and spilling their contents on the sidewalk.

A quick sharp pain ran through his body with his paw rubbing his rump to ease the discomfort.

"Oww, watch where you're going" snapped the other mammal as she too rubbed her backside to ease the slight pain.

"I'm so sorry" He answered for a second he recognized the voice.

Alex lifted his gaze from the floor and started to get a look at the mammal he'd knocked down, he saw pure white fur with the last few rays of pre-evening sunlight making it shine all the brighter, next he got to a tail with it still being pure white with a black as coal tip.

"Oh… uh… Hi" Said a timid female voice.

His eyes finally landed on her face and more specifically her eyes the same Smokey grey looking back at him this was the same artic wolf he had interviewed earlier today, for a moment he had no idea how to react with his thoughts becoming a scrambled mess.

_'Well say something dumb ass'_ Said a voice in his head.

'Like what?'

_'Why don't you start with Hi'_ the voice answered.

"Hi" He said his voice cracking a little as he spoke which in turn made him groan to himself.

She giggled making Alex blush, he coughed for a moment to straighten his voice and spoke again.

"Hi" He repeated this time without his voice cracking.

So there they sat just looking at one another both unsure about what to say or do, Alex wasn't sure how much time went by with them both going over each other so he decided to get up after all he'd caused this little accident so he needed to fix it.

'Plus staring at each other like this is starting to a little awkward' He thought standing back up again and extending a paw to the she-wolf.

"Again, I'm sorry for knocking you over" Luna took his offered paw and rose to her feet.

"It's ok" She replied. "I was daydreaming and not looking where I was going so it's just as much my fault"

She smiled softly at him making Alex's heart flutter, the two wolves stood for a moment an awkward silence growing between them with Alex not being able to find any words.

That is until he saw all her shopping lying on the sidewalk and his inner gentle mammal kicked in.

"Here let me help" He said and starting to pick up her shopping placing them back into the bags they fell from.

"Thank you" Said the she-wolf taking back the bags.

"Your welcome, do you want me to carry one? They look a little heavy"

"No, I'll be alright they look heavier than they are" She said shaking her head.

"Okay…um….well I'll…uh be heading home, goodnight miss" He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Alex looked back to her.

"Would you mind…..walking me home?" She asked softly. Alex gave a puzzled look.

"What….happened last night…it shook me up…and I already don't like walking alone in the dark"

Her voice became filled with nerves as she spoke clearly what she'd witnessed had shaken her and there was no way Alex was going to say no to a mammal in need.

"Sure, I'll walk you home" He took a look around the quiet street "So… which way?"

Luna giggled again nodding her head in the opposite direction and started to walk with Alex quickly catching up, they stayed that way for a minute walking through the quiet streets side by side with just the sounds of the city drifting through the air.

"So…. It was…. Luna, right?" He asked glancing towards her.

She nodded "Yep" she answered a small smile gracing her lips.

"Nice to meet you again Luna"

"Same to you officer Grey" He smiled.

"I'm off duty now so please call me Alex" Luna's smile turned into shy one as they continued to walk down the street.

The two wolves continued to walk through the streets heading for the she-wolfs home Alex found himself wanting to ask her a million questions, he wasn't sure where this sudden desire to get to know her had come from, but he offered little resistance to it instead he welcomed and embraced it.

Alex opened his mouth to speak however before he could and much to his surprise Luna spoke first.

"So, how long have you been on the force?" She asked Alex chuckled.

"Funny you should ask, it's actually my first day"

"Oh, well congratulations"

"Heh Thanks" He replied rubbing the back of his neck a little embarrassed.

"So, what do you do?"

"Oh, my job isn't very interesting"

Luna lifted one of the bags up for a moment to get a better grip on the handle but seemed to be getting uncomfortable with the weight.

Alex saw her struggling and an idea quickly formed in his head "Come on, at least give me a hint"

He reached out quickly taking a bag from the she wolfs paw, the act surprised her making her flinch away from him she went to take it back but moved out her reach.

"Now you have to tell me if you want this back" He said with a cocky grin on his muzzle.

Luna would have been frustrated if not angry but the fact he'd made such a bold move just so he could learn about her job was slightly endearing to her if not overkill.

"I believe that's blackmail and as an officer, you know full well that's illegal" She said a soft smile gracing her lips.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Sue me" Alex cringed at his own choice of words and looked away.

_"What am I thinking?"_ He screamed inwardly.

_"I can't flirt with her she just went through a pretty traumatizing experience plus I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that says you can't date a witness during an investigation"_

"Here we are" Luna said snapping Alex away from his thoughts.

They came to a stop outside a building not much different from what Alex lived in Luna stood by the door and turned to face her fellow lupine.

"Well this is my place thanks for walking me" She said gesturing to the door and offering a slightly nervous smile.

He bowed his head a little.

"Your welcome"

Alex caught sight of the bag still in his paw.

"I believe this is yours" He held out the bag, Luna took it from him and stared at it seeming to get lost in her thoughts.

The silence went on, so Alex decided now was a good time to make his way home.

"I-I'd better get going" For a second he debated if he should say any more.

He started back down the street towards his place when Luna's sweet voice reached his ears.

"Barista"

Alex turned and gave her a questioning look.

"Huh?" Luna looked up from her bags.

"You wanted to know what I do. I'm a Barista" Her tail swayed behind her with the corners of her mouth curving into a smile.

Alex felt his own tail start to wag answering her smile with a one of his own. Luna gave him a wave of her paw still holding her shopping and opened the door to her building heading inside with nothing else said.

Truth be told Alex wanted to talk way longer than they already had but it was starting to get late and he needed to get back home but as he made his way back down the street he couldn't stop himself thinking about the white wolf.

Questions filled his head all of them just another way of getting to know her 'where did you grow up?' 'What was your school like?' 'What's your dream job?' 'Will you go out w….'

He stopped himself there his mind drifting back to his earlier thought about it being against ZPD rules to see let alone date a witness in an investigation.

Alex's shoulders dropped he knew full well that he could not get involved with anyone that was part of the investigation especially a witness like Luna, it would look like he was getting too personally involved in the case or he was trying to coerce her into the statement she had given, no matter how Alex looked at it there was just no way he could get closer to the she-wolf without it looking bad for him and the ZPD.

So as he walked back towards home dragging his feet slightly he promised himself he'd solve this case so that he could really get to know Luna the wolf who seemed to have captured his every thought.

**_ Border of Savannah Central and the Rainforest district._**

A car rolled through the streets of Savannah Central heading for the border with the Rainforest district, inside were three hyena's all belonging to The Black Fangs.

"Did you hear about billy?" One of them asked.

"Of course we did"

"Who do you think did it?"

"Don't know. Don't care, we have a delivery to make and that's all that matters"

"What does the boss think?" The car went silent for a moment before the other hyena who had been quiet spoke.

"He's been putting this deal together, so he hasn't really noticed"

The car turned one last corner leading to a worn-out road leading to a warehouse the building was old and very run-down, windows smashed, gang tags sprayed on the walls, metal fencing surrounded the place the gate being broken with the sign 'KEEP OUT!' hanging off the rusted steel.

The car passed through the gate heading for the vehicle loading dock where a ramp leading into the main building was, once inside they came to a stop in an open room light shined through the broken windows landing on the old concrete floor and a few old storage containers off to the back of the room.

Once the car was parked the three canines got out and quickly checked around the room for anyone however the hyena who was asking questions before seemed distracted and the other two took notice.

"If you're going to say something hurry up and spit it out!"

"It's just…. w-well…. the ZPD is investigating and… if I was the boss I'd be more…. worried"

One of the other two hyenas strode toward him with a look of fury on his face, once he was in arms reach his open paw came flying up and slapped the side of the nerves canines muzzle.

He let out a yelp the force of the impact sending him off to the side it took him a moment to steady himself while his assailant loomed over him.

"Do you think the boss gives a FUCK about the ZPD!" He spat. The canine who'd been slapped stayed hunched over, looking up to his partner from the corner of his eye.

"I-I-I just thought…."

He didn't get a chance to finish as a fist then meet the side of his muzzle causing him to yelp again, he collapsed on the ground groaning in pain but managing to get onto his paws and knees.

"Don't think just do as your told" Said the hyena standing over him. All he could do was nod the pain spiking through his face and making wince.

"Good. Now the buyer will be here soon, so pick yourself up dust yourself off and look presentable" He said walking away from him back to the car and leaning his back on the side of the vehicle as if nothing had just happened.

After a few minutes the hyena picked himself up stumbling for a second as the dizziness from being slapped and punched started to wear off.

"Oh, and just so we're clear" Said the hyena leaning on the car.

"The boss has a plan for the ZPD and when we're done with them we'll own this city!" He said with a toothy grin.

The sun finally set over the horizon leaving the warehouse in the shadow of the border wall, darkness overtook the inside of the rundown structure with the only source of light coming from the headlights of the hyena gang members car illuminating part of the large room the three canines stood by the car waiting for there buyer to show up.

As they waited the hyena who had been knocked down earlier was nursing his now bruised muzzle with a black eye starting to show the hyena who had delivered the punch was now standing a few feet away his arms folded and flicking his tail in agitation while his hind paw made light clicking sounds as he tapped it on the concrete floor.

As they continued to wait for the buyer to show the black-eyed canines one good eye went over the room again more because of boredom rather any lingering nerves besides if he was nervous about anything it was being punched again all he was trying to say was maybe the boss should be a little bit more worried about the ZPD especially if that officer Hopps or Wilde came after them the duo had grown a reputation among the gangs of Zootopia and not a very good one.

Suffice to say they'd probably turn Wilde into a nice fur wall rug and Hopps…. well the hyena heard a few other gang members talk about how they'd use her to scratch one itch in particular.

The canine shivered at the thought and went back to scanning the warehouse when he saw something at the far end of the room it was only for a second a shadow or an outline of a figure zipping past the window but the thing that caught his attention the most was at the top of the shape he could have sworn he saw a pair of bright green eye's.

However, before he could voice his concern for what he thought he saw a car horn honked from the side of the building where they had come in followed a few moments later by a large SUV which then parked on the other side of the room with one side facing the hyenas car and the other facing the windows where the concerned hyena had seen his phantom shape.

The doors of the SUV opened, and three mammals stepped out two of them were jaguars both wearing black pants with white shirts and black blazers looking more like business mammals rather than gang members, the third mammal stepped out revealing a tiger wearing the same as the two smaller felines just without the blazer.

The felines were from the rainforest district gang the Razerclaws they had gained a reputation for using sly and underhanded tactics to get what they wanted but they always did it wearing fine clothes and a slick cool attitude to match.

However, that didn't mean they wouldn't get there paw dirty if they had too.

"Greetings friends" He said with a grin and spreading his paws out wide.

The hyena who had been getting a little bit impatient before addressed the feline.

"Your late"

"Only by a few minutes, keep your tail on" The canine let out a low growl.

"I will when this is done" He folded his arms across his chest "You got the money?"

The tiger dropped his smile obviously he was not in the mood for small talk, so he got down to business.

"Of course. Do you have the product?"

The canine nodded and went over to the truck of the car, he popped it open to reveal two black briefcases signaling the two other hyenas over to pick up and hold them.

As they did, however, he used their bodies to cover up his own movement reaching into the truck picking up something and sliding it into the waistband of his pants.

They went back over to the tiger and stood in front of him the two hyenas opened their cases with the nighthowler nestled inside and the tiger's eyes widened at the sight.

"As was negotiated two cases of nighthowler pre-packed and ready to sell"

The tiger reached into his pocket pulling out a small knife.

"May I?" The canine let out a long-irritated sigh.

"Sure"

The tiger waved his paw and one of his jaguar buddies came over standing by his side while he cut a small slit into one of the bags then using the knife to pick up a small amount of the powder balancing it on the side of the blade and handing it over to his lackey.

The feline put the blade near his lips then used his tongue to take one lick of the metal taking in the powder the familiar sweetness overwhelming his taste buds then after a few moments the sweetness was goon leaving in its place a numbness that always came after tasting and ingesting the drug, but luckily this only lasts for a few short minutes.

After the numbness faded the jaguar gave the tiger a nod slipping the blade back into his pocket and closing the case he looked between the canines and smiled.

"Perfect, now I presume you want your money?"

The hyena who was standing off to the side let out a growl from deep within his throat clearly getting more annoyed by the tiger's insistence to take up a much of his time as possible.

The feline just chuckled and waved a paw to his fellow cat, without a word he went back over to there car opening the passenger door and pulling out a single large black case and bringing it back over to the tiger.

The two hyenas holding their own cases closed them and stepped back letting their fellow canine stand in front. The tiger took the large case holding and opening it then presenting the contents to the hyena.

The inside of the case was filled with neatly stacked twenties.

The hyena licked his lips a hungry look appearing in his eye, grabbing one of the stacks he flicked through the notes making sure they were real, and all the money was there. He did the same with a few more of the stacks before placing them back and closing the case.

"Satisfied?" Asked the tiger.

The hyena nodded and motioned for his partners to bring the howler over to the other two felines who stepped next to the tiger.

Just as the two canines stopped in front of them the hyena who thought he saw someone earlier at the far end of the warehouse once again saw a fleeting shadow shoot past the ground floor window but this time he saw a small portion of light go with the figure.

'Was that a phone?' he thought right before he heard a noise that made him freeze and his blood run cold his ears stood alert twitching as he tried to figure out how far away the noise was.

The unmistakable sound of sirens was starting to fill the air.

By now however, everyone in the building knew they were coming, and they'd be busted soon however two mammals in the room were dealing with a different problem the hyena that had inspected the money and his large tiger counterpart stared daggers at one another both thinking the same thing.

You Rat.

The history between the two gangs had not been very peaceful in fact it had been on the bloody side until an uneasy truce was made over the mutual understanding that killing each other is bad for business and good for ZPD investigations so they came to an uneasy peace and kept to there own areas of the city.

Not all were happy about this however a few still wanted revenge for friends they lost or loss of something personal to them, but one main reason was they wanted more territory to expand and make more money.

Now two of those mammals were staring down one another as if daring them to make the first move, the sirens grow ever closer the sound cutting through the dim night sky and filling the ears of the gang members.

"We need to leave" One of them said but his plea fell on deaf ears.

The case in the tiger's paw fell to the floor and in a second, he pulled a pistol from the back waistband of his pants pointing it toward the hyena who in turn had pulled his own pistol pointing it at the tiger.

As the sirens grow closer the room only got tenser both sides clearly didn't want to get busted, but neither was willing to back down and show weakness in the face of a now potential enemy.

The sirens were now minute's away, and the gang members knew it, and both started to waver, both pistols started to be lowered.

BANG!

A gunshot ripped its way through the warehouse causing the feline and canine gangsters holding their pistols to flinch on their triggers.

BANG! BANG!

THUD!

The tiger hit the floor hard flat on his back arms lying out to his sides his gun had fallen from his paw and landed a few feet away.

The bullet from the hyena's gun had ripped a hole through his left eye and out the back of his head the blood quickly pooling around him with parts of his skull and brain lying behind him.

The hyena on the other paw fared much better…. Least he wasn't dead the tiger's bullet had ripped through his left shoulder directly above his heart making him stagger back a few feet while placing his gun paw over his now bleeding left shoulder and applying pressure to it.

The two jaguars stood there in stunned silence staring wide-eyed down at there now dead leader the blood pool under him growing larger by the second the hyenas also stared down at the dead tiger, but their gaze quickly turned to their injured partner.

The wounded canines head was facing the floor still holding his gun paw to the wound as his left arm hung limp at his side breathing slow and deep the gunshot seemed to not be causing him any pain.

After a moment however, the hyenas head lifted with a low growl emanating deep in his throat with narrowed eyes he located his prey and lifted his pistol.

BANG!

BANG!

Both jaguars' heads snapped back bullets tearing perfect round holes in their skulls and with a loud thud, the two mammals fell to the floor cold lifeless eyes forever staring into the black abyss.

The canines pistol fell to the floor and he stumbled back leaning on the hood of the car and quickly recovered his shoulder with his paw while applying light pressure to the wound. His two partners who up till this point had not moved while the whole exchange had happened out of fear of being shot themselves ran to his side.

"Holy Shit! You shot them!" One of them said as the other went to check his bullet wound.

"Of course, I shot them" He growled through clench teeth. "They sold us out"

The sirens were now right on top of them maybe only seconds away.

The hyena who was checking his friend's shoulder moved his paw slowly out of the way while pulling his shirt by the collar far enough across, so he could see the wound, growls of pain and discomfort emanated from his partner, but he found the hole.

Blood was flowing slowly down his front staining his fur and shirt red with his front checked he went to his back and found another hole this one a little bit bigger than the one on his front, letting out a little sigh of relief he informed his wounded partner.

"It's a though and though you'll live but we need to get out of here now"

Lifting his wounded partner by his uninjured shoulder to steady him on his feet he quickly opened the back-passenger car door with the wounded canine hissing as the pain burned through his shoulder, he slowly lowered him into the seat.

"Grab the stuff and the money" The injured canine spoke before the door closed.

His two partners quickly grabbed the nighthowler they had come with along with the money the tiger's feline friends had presented before having their collective brains blown out which was hard enough with all the blood now covering the floor making the concrete glisten deep red.

They piled all the cases in the trunk of the car slamming it shut with one hyena tending to their wounded friend while the other went to the front of the car but as he did his hind paw kicked something hard looking down his vison landed on the pistol used to kill the felines.

He quickly snatched up the weapon jumped into the driver's seat and started the car making a one-eighty turn and processed out the way they came slipping into the night while catching the sight of blue and red flashes in the rear-view mirror.

"You think they saw us?" Asked the hyena in the back seat still tending to his partners wound.

"N-No" Came a nervous response from the front seat. "I think we're clear"

The hyena hissed as a paw put pressure on the wound stopping the blood from flowing.

"We need to see the boss" He said through gritted teeth biting back another hiss of pain.

"We can see the boss once we've fixed you up"

A low growl filled the back of the car the hyena showing his disliking of the idea but when his partner put a little more force into his paw that was covering his wound causing him to groan and lean back deeper into his seat.

"Fine" He grunted.

The canine's car continued away from the warehouse and away from the blood that had been spilled but while they drove into the dimly lit night a figure emerged from the darkness surrounding the warehouse.

The figure pulled out a phone and dialed while walking away from the building and into a nearby alley.

_"Hello"_ Came a voice from the other end of the line.

"It's done" The voice chuckled.

_"Good. Did it happen the way I wanted?"_

"Almost" There was a moment of silence.

_"What do mean almost?"_

The figure explained how he'd hoped calling the ZPD would make things tense enough so someone would fire a shot so when they didn't, he had to expedite the situation by firing a round from his own pistol causing the hyena to flinch on the trigger and kill the Razerclaw members.

The voice let out another chuckled.

_"Perfect everything is proceeding as planned"_

The figure leaned against the wall of the alley.

"You know I'm kind of curious to see how this will play out"

_"Really?"_ He said surprise clear in his tone.

_"Well stick around cause when we're done Zootopia is going to look very different"_

The figure snorted and tapped the wall a few times with his paw.

"Alright I'll stay but I expect a major bonus" The voice laughed deep and long.

_"I think I've got just the thing_" The figure stood up from the wall making his way down the road.

"I'm listening"

**To be continued.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N Sorry for the long wait life kicked me in the nuts and I fell away from writing for a while. Never the less I finally sat down and finished this chapter which if I'm honest makes me feel a lot better. **_

_**Anyway I'm super happy to bring you guys Chapter 5 of The Nighthowlers Corruption I hope you enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. **_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Nick cruised through the traffic of downtown the crisp morning air blowing through his open window ruffling his fur and making his ears twitch.

Chief Bogo had called Nick while he was still in bed informing him to pick up his rookie wolf partner and head to a crime scene near the border of Savannah Central and the Rainforest district so with a groan and a steaming hot cup of coffee Nick pick up a cruiser from the ZPD and headed out to pick up his lupine partner.

Nick was about halfway to the wolf's apartment when he'd stopped at a red light his phone began to ring quickly pulling the device out a smile graced his lips as he swiped the answer button.

"Good morning carrots"

"_Good morning Nick_" Judy replied making Nick smile grow even more.

"How are you this morning?"

"_Tired_" The rabbit said letting out a yawn as if to add emphasis.

"_When you're taking care of 275 brothers and sisters while your mother is giving birth to six new siblings it really takes it out of ya_" Nick chuckled at that.

"Aren't bunny's meant to have boundless energy?"

"_Even bunnies have their limits Nick_" Nick let out a fake gasp.

"Even the most determined bunny officer in the ZPD?" Judy giggled.

"_Even me slick_"

The lights turned green and traffic started to move again Nick quickly turned his phone onto speaker placing it in a paws free holding on the dashboard and continued on to his destination.

"_So a little birdy told me about a new case you're working on and that you have a new partner. Should I be jealous?_" Nick barked out a laugh.

"Your little bird is well informed yes I'm working a homicide with a recruit he's a wolf in fact so no need to get jealous fluff" Judy giggled.

"_So, how's the case going? Any leads?_"

"Nothing concrete hopefully tech will have something later"

Nick eventually came to a stop outside Alex's apartment building cutting the engine the fox grabbed his phone and jump out of the cruiser.

"Sorry carrots I've got to go and pick up my protégé and solve this case I promise I'll call later and tell you all about it"

"_That's ok Nick I've got a few chores to help with around here anyway. Talk later I love you_"

Nick smiled wide his tail swaying happily.

"I love you too carrots" The call ended, Nick put his phone away and headed into the building.

Nick made his way into the building heading up a floor to find the right apartment at the top of the stairs the door came into view heading over Nick gave the wood a firm knock and the door open slightly so curiosity getting the better of him Nick made his way inside.

The place was small but defiantly bigger than the tiny box Judy used to live in Nick closed the door and went to take a seat on the small couch at the center of the room the sound of running water reached his ears confirming the wolf was indeed home he pulled out his phone crossed one leg over the other and waited.

Alex turned off the shower letting the last few drops of water wash through his fur, yesterday had been far more than he had ever expected his first day and already working a case alongside Nick Wilde one of the saviors of the city.

The wolf stepped out of the shower being quick to dry his fur he walked into his living room to get his uniform.

"Good morning Grey"

Alex let out a welp turning to the voice only to find a smug-looking fox sitting on the couch he stood there not sure what to do until he realized he was still naked his bare fur on show for his fox partner.

He quickly covered himself whipping his tail around in front of his crotch spreading his paws out over his tail fur to maximize coverage but did little to hide his embarrassment.

"You know if someone broke into my home while I was naked I'd probably do something more than just cover my fox hood" Nick smirked and glace down at the wolf's tail still covering himself as a few stray drops of water dripped down to the floor.

"Or wolf hood in this case"

"NICK! How did you get into my place" The fox waved a paw at the door.

"Your door was open"

"So you naturally decided to just….what make yourself at home?" Nick smiled.

"Yep pretty much"

Alex sighed and still with embarrassment burning bright on his face he shuffled across the room to his ZPD blues still covering his groin, he snatched them up went back to his bathroom to dry off and get dressed.

"So, why are you here Nick?" The wolf asked from beyond the bathroom door.

"Bogo wants us at a crime scene on the border of Savannah Central and the Rainforest district"

"Oh, what happened?"

"Not sure he just said to be there ASAP"

Alex finally stepped out dressed in his blues a little less embarrassed than before.

"Okay let's go I'll have to eat later though I didn't get the chance to make breakfast" Nick jumped off the couch smooth out his own blues and smirked.

"Don't worry I'll get you something, My way of saying sorry for seeing you in the buff" He said giving the wolf a wink making Alex's face heat up once again.

**Crime scene- Savannah Central, Rainforest District border**

Nick and Alex pulled up to the rundown warehouse parking outside the ZPD tape with two more officers guarding the dirt road leading to the building, CSU was already inside doing there sweep when the two canines came into the large open storage room.

Chief Bogo was stood talking to one of the CSU team before noticing Nick and Alex he dismissed the mammal and went over to them.

"Wilde, Grey"

"Morning chief" They both said.

"Good timing on your part, CSU just finished and I'd like your option on this mess" He gestured for them to follow and lead them over to three felines all lying in thick pools of blood.

All three officers stood at the edge of the large pool of blood going over the gruesome scene before them, the three bodies lied flat on their backs with neat small bullet-shaped holes in their heads a look of surprise and shock written all over each of the felines faces.

Alex was having a hard time looking at the scene, he'd seen his first homicide only yesterday and now he had to see it again but three times as bad, the smell of blood was so strong that it threatened to knock Alex back outside but surprisingly Nick and Bogo didn't seem affected by the bodies or the blood while Alex covered his nose blocking out the horrible smell.

"We got a tip late last night about a Nighthowler deal, Delgato and Wolfard responded but by the time they got here all they found was this" Bogo said waving a hoof over the scene.

"What happened here?" Alex asked aloud as he stepped away to take a look around but really just to get away from the smell.

"Definitely a deal gone wrong, I mean look at their face's" Nick said as he walked around the blood pool.

"It's far worse than that" Bogo said pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing.

"I heard from a source this morning that this has put the gangs on edge and it's only going to take one more push on either side and we might have a gang war on our paws"

"What did CSU find sir?" Alex asked eager to avoid the thought of a full-blown gang war.

"As far as they can gather there were two groups obviously, they came here to make a deal something went wrong guns come out bullets fly and we have three dead mammals"

"But one from the other group got tagged see the blood?" Nick pointed to a small trail of blood leading away from the larger blood pool then disappearing altogether.

"CSU thought the same thing and that's all we have to go on here" Bogo let out a huff and turned to face the canines.

"Updated me on your case"

"We managed to get the dead dealers name Billy Green, we checked out his apartment didn't find much except for his phone with another stash of nighthowler we left the phone with tech yesterday we're hoping for something today" Once Nick finished Bogo looked between the wolf and fox.

"How are you fairing being partnered with Wilde Grey?" Alex looked a little unnerved by the question.

"I...It's great sir Ni...I mean officer Wilde is really helping me settle in" Bogo looked dubious.

"I find that hard to believe" Nick gave a smirk.

"Come on chief you know me" Bogo shook his head.

"Unfortunately I do Wilde" Alex smiled at the conversation but straighten when the chief address them again with a more serious tone.

"Alright go back to the ZPD find out what tech might have for you, keep me updated on anything you find" The two saluted, turned and left the building. Bogo took one more long look at the scene shook his head.

**Precinct one - Tech department **

The tech department was one large room filled with computers in cubicles, a few glass offices bordered the room with mammals hard at work going over evidence of a more digital nature but Nick and Alex were after one mammal in particular.

"This is cool" Alex said in awe. Nick just shrugged waving a paw at the wolf.

"Seen it once seen it a million times, come on she's over here"

Alex would have asked who he meant but when they reached the far end of the cubicles sat in close to her computer was a leopard dressed in ZPD blues typing furiously her sky blue eyes fixed on whatever was on her monitor, the felines long tail flicked back and forth while one of her hind paws taped the floor she did have something dangling from her neck but Alex couldn't tell what it was at least not until Nick greeted her.

"Morning Sam" Her ears flicked picking up Nick's greeting but she didn't turn her gaze from the screen.

"Hey, Nick" Nick leaned against the cubicles divider and started flicking through his phone while Alex just stood there feeling very awkward.

"Don't worry she'll be done in a minute" True to Nick's word after a minute Sam spun on her chair to face the pair, the necklace around the female's neck swaying as she spun with Alex saw a large blue sapphire stone set in the center of it.

"Sorry about that just finishing a report for Bogo, anyway good morning what brings you by?" Sam said a bright smile gracing her muzzle.

"We're here to see if you've managed to crack the phone we retrieved from a dead dealers apartment yesterday" Nick then gestured to his wolf partner.

"Also to introduce my partner, officer Alex Grey meet one of the best members of our tech team" The feline grinned at the compliment while Alex held out his paw, Sam took it and they shook.

"Nice to meet you, Alex, I'm Sam " Alex's eyes were drawn to the beautiful stone around her neck.

"See anything you like?" Sam asked with a wink. Alex blushed a little.

"N-N-No sorry your necklace is just amazing" He said meeting her gaze.

"Yea I get that a lot" She replied running a paw down the chain to the stone.

"Are you done?" Nick asked a slight grain tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry. So a dead dealer's phone let me see" Sam turned back to her computer and went through what they had.

"I managed to crack the phone last night and managed to find some pretty useful stuff" A cupule of clicks later and all the info came up.

"I got messages from other members of the gang, a few from what I believe is his supplier but nothing really concrete it's all pretty vague I'm guessing so they can have plausible deniability if we got their phone's"

Growls of frustration sounded from the wolf and fox they needed something to go on to catch this guy and this was not helping.

"Keep your tails on boys. I've got something you'll want to see" Sam click on to another screen and what they saw made them lean into the computer.

On the monitor was a jam cam snapshot of the car that Luna had described with the last part of the license plate matching, they still couldn't see inside the car but they knew where it was, the camera place it inside the Rainforest district.

"You found the car" Alex exclaimed not hiding his astonishment.

"Yep, it was a real pain in the tail took me a few hours to find this"

"We still can't see the driver through" Alex pointed out.

"True but when I ran the plate I got a name, Jordan Hunt" Sam pulled up a mugshot of a cheetah along with his ZPD file.

"Arrested for extortion, drug possession, and money laundering but here's the kicker" She pulled up gang associates and there was a familiar name.

"The Razorclaws"

"Yep, apparently he got in just before the gangs fought a few years back, he's climbed the ranks ever since" Alex rubbed the back of his neck a thought crossing his mind.

"That's interesting and all Sam but what possible reason could he have to kill one lowly drug dealer?" Sam gave the wolf an amused look.

"It has everything to do with him because after the gang war had ended the Razerclaws lost territory, specifically Jordan Hunt because he lost his old drug territory to a hyena from the black fangs who I might add also tried to kill him during a drive-by"

Alex's eyes widened while Nick rubbed his muzzle as he spoke.

"That does make sense, obviously he was bitter about losing territory add the fact that Billy tried to kill him and we may be looking at our killer"

Alex nodded while Nick turned back to Sam.

"Well let's go introduce ourselves, Sam do you ha..." The fox was interrupted as the leopard held up a piece of paper with an address written on it.

"Already done, he lives in the center of the Rainforest district" Nick took the paper placing it in his pocket.

"Thanks, Sam your the best" The leopard just waved a paw at him with an amused grin.

"No thanks needed. I already know how great I am"

"Just make sure it doesn't go to your head spots" Nick jabbed with a smirk.

Her eyes narrowed at the fox and her tail flicked with slight annoyance.

"Be careful Wilde or else when Judy gets back she might find you without your favorite appendage"

Nick's eyes widened while his paws quickly went down to cover his crotch.

"You wouldn't" She gave a sly smile and turned back to her computer.

"Go on you've got a cheetah to question I'll catch you later"

Alex chuckled as Nick started to walk away casting a few nervous glances over his shoulder.

"I like her" Nick gave Alex a look.

"You wouldn't say that if you found out what happened to the last mammal who insulted her abilities" Alex's ears perked up curiously.

"What did happen?" Nick pointed down toward his foxhood.

"He lost his favorite appendage"

"Oh..." A shiver ran down the wolf's spine.

"Remind me not to make her mad" The fox just laughed.

"Will do, come on let's get going"

**Rainforest District- Jordan Hunt's residence **

As Nick and Alex got to within a couple of streets from the suspects home the wolf started to get nervures, he started rubbing his paws together interlocking them in different ways as his heartbeat grow ever more rapid, his mind tried to think of something anything to calm himself but nothing worked eventually he was dragged from nerve riddled mind by Nick calling his name.

"Grey" Alex looked over at the fox who was still driving "You alright?"

Alex looked down at his paw resting in his lap fingers still wrapped tightly together.

"Yea just nerves, It's my first assert you know?" Nick grinned waved a paw at him and continued to drive the last street to the suspect's house.

"Don't worry Grey you'll be fine"

"Were you nervous the first time you arrested someone Nick?" He thought about it for a moment.

"Not really but then I had Judy with me and now you have me" He said flashing a toothy grin.

Alex chuckled at the fox momentarily forgetting his nerves which was helpful as they pulled up outside Jordan Hunt's house, the place was on a pretty mundane street in the lower area of the district not the most beautiful part of the rainforest but probably not the worst just a simple two-floor place built into the trunk of the tree which climbed up into the sky.

"Alright, let's go partner" Nick said leaping out of the cruiser with Alex hot on his tail.

They got to the door with Nick about to knock when from inside there was a crash followed by a string of obscenities that would have made a sailor blush, both canines placed their ears on the wood of the door to be able to hear what the voice said.

"Fuck Daniel I told you not to try that powder now look at you" At that moment there was a growl low and menacing, Nick's eyes widened as he knew all too well what the noise was Alex on the other paw was having a hard time controlling his heart rate he'd heard about the savage mammals even seen them on the news but hearing the growl it felt like it was coming just for him.

"Get in that room you stupid feline" The voice continued as feint paw steps could be heard leading away from the door then a door shut as silence filled the house.

Nick had heard enough to know something was definitely going on, he took a step back and knocked loudly on the door.

"ZPD OPEN UP!" He said as his wolf partner was trying to straighten his fur that had risen up when he heard that growl.

The door opened a few moments later with a cheetah standing in a white dress shirt a loose tie around his neck and black trousers.

"Hello officers, what can I do for you?" He said flushing a grin.

"Officer Wilde and Officer Grey mind if we ask a few questions?"

"Not at all" He said leaning on the doorframe.

"Are you Jordan Hunt?"

"Yes"

"And are you acquainted with the razorclaws?"

"If by that you mean I know a few of them then sure" He said smiling.

"Where were you two nights ago?"

"Here at home in my bed. Why? What is this about?" He asked a frown forming on his face.

"We have reason to believe that you may have killed a rival gang member outside the club known as Envy" Nick said stepping a little closer to the feline.

The cheetah just laughed in his face.

"I heard about that, Billy Green right? I didn't have anything to do with that, I gave up on that stupid bit of turf years ago"

"Then why was your car pictured on the night of the murder driving back from Savannah Central"

Alex pulled out his phone pulling up the picture Sam had showed them earlier and presented the evidence to the feline who looked at the photo his eyes widening slightly.

"That's imposable I haven't used my car in days nor has it moved in that time" He pointed at his car matching the photo on Alex's phone plus the license plate matched the one given by Luna.

"Then how do you explain your car driving away from the murder of a rival gang member that you used to have a problem with because of one bit of territory" The feline snarled at the fox.

"I don't know. All I know is it couldn't have been me because I haven't used my car in days and I've been home nearly the whole week"

"Is there anyone who can vouch for that?" The cheetah's tail twitched as he looked back over his shoulder toward a door on the far side of his living room.

"No you'll just have to take my word for it"

"You have to forgive me if I don't take the word of a suspected Nighthowler dealer. Do you mind if we look inside your car?" Nick asked wanting to be away from him about as much as he wanted away from the officers.

Jordan reached for a side table by the door and pulled out a set of keys that he pawed to Nick.

"Go ahead if it will get you out of here faster"

Nick went over to Jordan's car and opened it from the driver's side, the inside was clean but warn which made Nicks job a little easier he checked under the front seats 'Nothing' he climbed into the back 'Still nothing' Nick hit the truck release went outside to the back and opened it up again nothing, he was about to close it up when he saw the glove compartment, he reached out a paw and flick it open.

"Oh! You naughty feline" He said grabbing an evidence bags from his belt and placing a 9mm Glock 19 into the bag along with a few rolls of cash in the other, Nick held the bags up above the car roof so when Alex saw the gun he went straight behind the cheetah pulling both paws behind his back.

"I hope you can explain having a weapon that happens to be the same calibre as the weapon used in a murder inside the car that was seen at that murder and then pictured diving away"

The cheetah face was stunned, eyes wide and mouth hanging open but after a few heartbeats the mental fog cleared and he spoke.

"That's not mine I've never seen that gun before" Nick just smirked not buying a word of it.

"How original, Jordan Hunt you are under arrest for the murder of Billy green" Alex flicked the cuffs on the feline wrists and lead him to the back of the cruiser while Jordan started shouted his innocence.

"That gun is not mine someone set me up!"

Just as the car door shut there was a bang from inside the house coming from the door across the living room, it was still closed but whatever was there had heard the cheetah and decided it wanted out.

"What….is…that?" Alex asked coming up beside Nick at the door to the house.

"One of us better check it out" The two canines looked at each other.

"You have experience and seniority so you should go" Alex said his tail twitching restlessly.

"Ah, but if I go you'll miss out on a learning experience" The door banged again making the wolf's ears fold back close to this skull.

"I don't think whatever is on the other side of that door cares much about my state of academic learning" Nick gave him a pat on the arm.

"Don't worry I'll be here the whole time and if things get dicey I'll step in and help" He then held up his radio from his belt.

"Plus I'll call some backup"

Alex gave a nervous smile and started inside the house while Nick radioed Clawhauser.

"Officer Wilde to dispatch"

"Dispatch here what's up Nick?" The cheetah asked.

"We've got a possible 10-91 and need backup" He gave the address and waited for a response.

"Alright Backup is on its way"

"Thanks buddy I'll keep you updated" He put his radio back on his belt and stepped just inside the doorway, Alex meanwhile started to walk across the room taking it in as he went.

The room was fairly large with all modern furniture and a large flat screen planted on the wall but what caught the wolf's eye was the clear plastic bag on a table in the middle of the room with purple powder spilled out by its side.

"Nick we've got more nighthowler" He said pointing at the coffee table.

The fox started to speak but was cut off by another bang from the door across the room. Alex swallowed and made his way over to the door placing a paw on the handle he looked back to his partner who nodded while pulling out his tranquilizer pistol.

Alex pushed the handle down and started to pulled it open… half a second later he was flat on his back staring at the ceiling while what knocked him down ran across the room straight for Nick.

He quickly got back up but by then Nick had been knocked back outside his pistol on the floor next to him as he himself tried to get back up.

The mammal that had attacked them was a snow leopard wearing black pants and a white dress shirt but they had claw marks all over them, Alex saw a few darts in the floor where Nick had tried to shoot the feline but had missed the surprise and speed of the attack having knocked him off balance.

Alex scrambled back to his feet as the savage leopard turned and faced him, his eyes were vertical black slits in a sea of bright blue his fur was raised up in anger but what froze Alex to the spot was as he stood there on all fours he seemed to vibrate with pure animalistic rage.

Fear... Alex could feel nothing but fear, he'd never seen a savage mammal before but standing in front of one now he could understand why prey mammals had started to fear predators, right now though he felt like a kit again helpless, defenseless wanting nothing more than to run and hid.

"Grey!" Nick's voice broke through Alex's scared thoughts, looking past the savage leopard Nick was back on his feet his pistol in one paw and his radio in the other.

"He broke my tranq gun so we're going to have to keep him contained till back up gets here" Alex swallowed and nodded, he was still scared but he knew he had a job to do if the leopard was too broke out he'd surely hurt or even kill innocent mammals.

The leopard snarled teeth bared at Alex making the wolf back up a step, he wanted to not show fear but as he'd taken that step the leopard sensed exactly that and leaped at the wolf.

Alex's training kick in as he throws himself to the side away from the feline's leap, Alex had his back to the front door now and as the savage feline turned back to face him still snarling he called back to Nick.

"Shut the door Nick" The fox gave him a dumbfounded look.

"Are you crazy?!"

"You said it yourself we need to keep him contained and away from the public"

Nick was about to argue more but Alex slammed the door in his face before he could, the leopard had charged again but this time Alex didn't have time move the action of shutting the door caused him to look away for a moment giving the feline the time to get in close claws and teeth out flashing in the light, Alex raised his arms to block his face but that didn't stop the leopard his paws crashed either side of his head but his maw bit down on the wolfs exposed forearm.

Alex howled out in pain the feline had a death grip on his arm as panic sweep through his system, the pain was intense his teeth felt like someone was sticking red hot irons through his arm, Alex shut his eyes trying block out the pain and remember his training but nothing came all he could focus on was the feeling of his arm being bitten in half, he had to do something so he balled up a fist with his free paw and started slamming it into the leopards face.

There was a whimper from the feline but he maintained the grip on his arm, Alex pushed off from the door and continued hitting the savage but still, he held on so he tried something different opening his fist and with a big swing of his paw he raked his claws across the felines face and with a whine his let go of his arm moving away from Alex as he did the same.

Alex moved back and started cycling the room again with the feline doing the same, he was shaking his head trying to clear his vision Alex could see three fresh red claw marks going across his face not very deep they might leave a few scratches but nothing too bad, his own arm was bleeding from the bite four small puncture holes dripping bright red blood down through his fur and onto the floor, he didn't feel any pain the adrenaline running through his body had seen to that but the fear remained as he circled the room keeping the leopard in front of him.

As they went around the room Alex tried to keep calm and not show fear but cracks were starting to form in his façade and the leopard seemed to see it, his jaw opened to reveal his pure white fangs that still had some of the wolfs blood on them, his tongue rolled out licking his lips and fangs a shiver shot up Alex's spine his eyes widening and freezing his hind paws in place with the small coffee table behind him.

The feline charged across the room toward Alex so quickly he thought he'd actually might have been a cheetah, the wolf was still rooted to the spot by his fear when the feline jumped claws extended mouth gaping wide open showing off his blood-stained fangs, Alex closed his eyes and waited for the bite that would most likely kill him.

.

.

.

**CRASH!**

Pain exploded in Alex's back as he landed right on top of the coffee table, he shook his head trying to clear the pain and locate the savage feline, as the wolfs eyes opened he saw the leopard back on the far side of the room pacing back and forth he couldn't understand why he hadn't bitten him or killed him for that matter all he did was slam him into a table and walked away, as Alex was still processing what happened he caught something in the air his vision was still a little blurry so he breathed in through his nose...it...was...sweet...wait... is that?

His body jerked violently and Alex rolled onto his chest pounding his paws into the broken table under him fighting back the change he knew was coming.

"Please...AH...No...I d-don't want t-to be a...AHHHH...Savage" He pleaded as the drug worked its way through his system.

His body jerked again Alex slammed his paw into the table again but this time he raked his claws across the wooden surface leaving deep marks in the wood, Alex then growled deep from within his throat and when he got to his feet he stood on all fours his fur puffed out in anger, his fangs bared and when he turned to face the leopard they're gazes locked Alex's eyes were now black slits in a pool of blue.

Both mammals growled taking a slow step towards one another Alex's arm was still bleeding leaving a slight blood trail behind him but the now savage wolf didn't notice or care, what he did do was crouch low the floor pushing all his weight on his back legs and leaped forward front paws extended and mouth twisted into a vicious snarl.

Alex crashed head-on into the leopard knocking him down on his back and biting his shoulder. The feline yowled in pain as Alex's fangs dung into his flesh but after a second the feline own fangs bite down on Alex's shoulder forcing him to loosen his grip on the feline. They began to roll fangs biting and claws scratching while bumping and smashing into furniture if anyone was watching them all they would have seen was a whirlwind of fangs and fur.

After a minute the two savage mammals slowed and split apart retreating to opposite sides of the room both of them now sporting fresh bite and scratch marks with both their pelts and clothes being stained red with blood. Alex's forearm was still bleeding from the earlier bite but the wolf didn't seem to notice much less care, Alex growled showing his now blood-covered fangs and charged at the feline with him doing the same. A second before they meet Alex lowered his head and used his shoulder getting in low on the leopard hitting his chest hard sending him flying right into the wall.

The feline slammed into the wall letting out of yowl of pain and collapsing onto the floor. He landed on his side letting out another pained growl trying to raise his head for a moment before slumping back down on the floor. Alex walked over to him his large body towering over the now limp form the gang member, his grey and white fur ran red with his and some of the feline's blood Alex's forearm had been bitten again making the wound larger bleed more and forcing him to limp on it.

Savage black slits stared down at a defenseless mammal with only a single simple thought running through the wolf's head.

_Kill...kill...kill...Kill!_

Alex stepped over the snow leopard opening his wide mouth exposing his blood-soaked fangs, Alex wrapped his mouth around the feline's neck and started to bite into him. He couldn't help it Alex would never kill but something deep inside told him differently a primal voice called out for blood and an urge drove him forward as his fangs broke the skin and small amounts of blood started to flow into his mouth his fur stood on end he growled deep and started to put in the final amount of pressure to make the kill.

"GREY!" A voice called making Alex let go of his kill and turn to face whatever it was.

Chief Bogo and Nick stood in the doorway to the apartment both had tranquilizer pistols aimed at the pair of savage mammals, Alex crouched low fur rising his teeth bared savage blue eyes staring down the officers. Bogo didn't give him a chance to act firing once and hitting Alex in him uninjured shoulder he yelped and a few seconds later fell to the floor his blue eyes blinking shut.

"Officers, please restrain these savages and get them medical attention" Bogo ordered as mammals in ZPD blue came in the room.

As Alex and the gang member were treated Bogo and Nick watched over the scene.

"What he did was very stupid and irresponsible" Bogo said folding his arms.

"True but he might have saved a lot of mammals including me" Nick answered back just as Alex was strapped into a hospital gurney.

"Indeed, never the less I will need to have a long talk with him once he wakes up" Nick grimaced.

"If he knew what was coming he might not bother waking up" Bogo stared daggers down at the fox. Nick backed up a little and saluted.

"I'll go question the razerclaw member now sir" Nick smirked, Bogo sighed and rubbed his nose.

"Fine go Wilde I'm staying here to manage the clean up" Just as Nick turned to leave Bogo called out to him.

"Keep this quiet officer. If the gangs find out about this they may go to war over it" Bogo said his brow creased in concern.

Nick nodded and left heading for his cruiser hopping inside and aiming in the direction of the ZPD.

**On a nearby rooftop watching all the ZPD outside the apartment building**

"Sir we have a situation"

_"What is it?"_

The mammal told him what had happened.

_"A savage officer huh? Well I think we can work with this"_

"Ha how so?"

_"You'll see get back here and we'll discuss it"_

"On my way"

To be continued...

* * *

_**A/N Sorry just one last thing. Soon me and my partner will be moving so I'll have to step away from writing for a little bit so I can focus on that, I'm really sorry but rest assured I will not be abandoning this story. **_

_**Anyway I hope you enjoyed. **_

_**Stay Safe. **_


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